Tyres burnt, markets shut as 36-hour bandh hits Arunachal over Siang dam project

Many schools, government offices, shops and markets were closed in Arunachal's Upper Siang district, while buses stayed off the roads and demonstrators burnt tyres at several places. East Siang was also affected, but the bandh had no impact in Siang district.Schools, markets and offices remain shut in Arunachal in the wake of the bandh against the Siang dam row.

Itanagar,Nov 2, 2026 13:32 ISTNormal life was disrupted in parts of Arunachal Pradesh on Monday as several organisations began a 36-hour bandh against a proposed hydropower project on the Siang river, news agency Press Trust of India reported.Many schools, government offices, shops and markets were closed in Upper Siang district, while buses stayed off the roads and demonstrators burnt tyres at several places. East Siang was also affected, but the bandh had no impact in Siang district.The Siang Indigenous Farmers Forum and the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project Affected Area Youth Association called the bandh in Siang, Upper Siang and East Siang districts.An official told PTI that the shutdown had disrupted normal life in Upper Siang and affected East Siang, but had no impact in Siang.

The organisations are protesting against the alleged failure to meet their demands. These include the release of arrested demonstrators, withdrawal of security forces and suspension of ongoing survey work for the 11,200-megawatt Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, a large hydropower plant planned on the Siang river.Upper Siang Deputy Commissioner Ashok Tajo told PTI, “Many government offices and schools are closed.

Shops and business establishments remain closed. The bandh is mostly effective in Yingkiong town and Geku.” Siang Superintendent of Police Kamdam Sikhom said the bandh had no impact in the district, where all government offices, shops and schools were “functioning normally."The project, planned as one of India's largest hydropower initiatives, has faced sustained opposition from sections of the indigenous Adi community, particularly people living in the proposed project-affected areas.Residents fear that the project could submerge ancestral villages, displace people, lead to the loss of agricultural land and forests, and disrupt the community's traditional way of life.The Centre also considers the project strategically important in view of China's proposed large hydropower project on the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet, which enters India as the Siang.- Ends